Postgraduate research students

The collection of Andrew Henderson Bishop (1874–1957) comprises approximately 23,000 predominantly prehistoric artefacts from Scotland, the rest of Britain, and continental Europe, with additional material from Oceania, Asia, and the Americas donated to the Hunterian Museum’s Archaeology Collection in 1914 and 1951.

This project re-examines and recontextualises the A.H. Bishop Collection through object itinerary theory, integrating material, textual, and institutional research. It investigates the objects within the collection, Bishop as a collector, and his wider network of accumulation, to address the following research questions:

1. What information types can be retrieved about the social and material nature of the A.H. Bishop collection using itinerary analysis?
2. How does the composition of the collection reflect the biases, priorities, and logistical frameworks of Bishop’s personal collecting, and how does it compare with other late 19th- and early 20th-century collecting practices in Scotland and Britain?
3. In what ways can itinerary theory serve not only as a methodological tool for reconstructing object histories but also as a critical framework for re-engaging dormant collections and addressing ethical questions surrounding interpretation, accessibility, and relevance?

This project treats the collection not as a passive archive of prehistoric material, but as a dynamic and historically contingent assemblage shaped by both collector networks and institutional systems. In doing so, it contributes to understanding the evolution of archaeological collecting in Scotland and Bishop’s role within it - positioning him alongside contemporaries such as J. Graham Callander, Mungo Buchanan, and Ludovic MacLellan Mann. The project also seeks to develop models for working with dormant museum collections as sites of theoretical inquiry and critical reflection, highlighting their value in shaping contemporary archaeological practice and knowledge-making.

Research interests: archaeological theory, material culture, object itineraries, collections research, dormant assemblages

List by: Type | Date

• Dr Nyree Finlay
• Dr Andrew Mills
• Dr Christa Roodt

University of Glasgow College of Arts and Humanities Research Support Award (2024)

University of Glasgow College of Arts Research Support Award (2023)

The Annie Dunlop Endowment (2023)

Arianna Magyaricsová, 'Collected, Forgotten, Reimagined: The A. H. Bishop Collection and the Role of Legacy Collections in Regional Research' Conference Presentation, CVARF Symposium 2025, Lanark, 7 June 2025.

Arianna Magyaricsová, 'Collecting (in) Scotland: The A. H. Bishop Collection at the Hunterian Museum' Talk, Collections Lab Showcase, Glasgow, 26 February 2025.

Dr Dahlia Porter, Dr Lola Sanchez-Jauregui, Arianna Magyaricsová & Wu Yunong, ‘Spring into Methods: Working with Objects’ Workshop, SGSSS & SGSAH, Glasgow, 16-17 May 2024.

Arianna Magyaricsová, 'The Bishop Collection and late 19th and early 20th Century Personal and Institutional Collecting Practices at the Hunterian Museum, Scotland: A Material, Social and Theoretical Analysis' Conference Presentation, 7th Scottish Student Archaeology Society Conference Glasgow, 17 February 2024.

Dr Dahlia Porter, Dr Lola Sanchez-Jauregui, Arianna Magyaricsová & Wu Yunong, ‘Spring into Methods: Working with Objects’ Workshop, SGSSS & SGSAH, Glasgow, 23-24 May 2023.

Arianna Magyaricsová, ‘The Inchtuthil Nails in Motion’ Talk, Collections Lab Showcase, Glasgow, 9 December 2022.

Graduate Teaching Assistant:

- Archaeology of Scotland (Level 1)

- Archaeology Theory and Practice (Level 2)

Qualifications:

Archaeology MRes, 2023, University of Glasgow, Thesis title: ‘Reinvigorating the Lewis chessmen: novel approaches in itinerary and collections research’ 

Archaeology MA, 2022, University of Glasgow, Grade 1:1, Dissertation title: ‘The Inchtuthil Nails in Motion: Object Itineraries in Theory and Practice’ 

Affiliations:

Secretary, Scottish Archaeological Forum

Fellow, Society of Antiquaries of Scotland